Bass guitarist Herbie Flowers, who played with David Bowie, dies at 86

FILE – The Blue Mink pop group including Roger Cook, wearing hat, Madeline Bell, left, and bass player Herbie Flowers, second right, leaving London for Los Angeles, and the start of a two week tour on July 1973. (PA via AP, File)

LONDON — Bass guitarist Herbie Flowers, who played with David Bowie, Elton John, Lou Reed and other music legends in a decades-long career, has died at 86.

The musician’s family confirmed his death on Facebook Saturday.

Flowers was a founding member of the pop group Blue Mink, who later joined the rock band T Rex. He won acclaim for his work with many of the biggest names in U.K. music in the 1970s, giving Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side,” from the 1972 “Transformer” album, its recognizable twinned bassline.

He also played bass for Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” Bryan Ferry’s “The Bride Stripped Bare,” and Paul McCartney’s “Give My Regards To Broad Street,” and featured in two of John’s early ’70s albums, among many others.

In a tribute, Bowie’s estate said “his work with Bowie and associates over the years is too long to list here.”

“Aside from his incredible musicianship over many decades, he was a beautiful soul and a very funny man. He will be sorely missed,” it said.

Tim Burgess, lead singer for The Charlatans singer, said on the social media platform X that Flowers “made the greats sound greater.”

Flowers also founded the instrumental rock band Sky in the late 1970s, releasing seven albums.